New record set for largest python ever found in FL

The biggest Burmese python ever caught in Florida, over five metres (17ft) long and weighing 74kg (11st 9lb), has been found in Everglades national park, the University of Florida said on Monday.

The snake was pregnant with 87 eggs, also said to be a record. Scientists said the python's stats show just how pervasive the invasive snakes, which are native to south-east Asia, have become in south Florida.

"It means these snakes are surviving a long time in the wild," said Kenneth Krysko, a snake expert at the Florida Museum of Natural History, where the euthanised snake was brought.

"There's nothing stopping them and the native wildlife are in trouble."

1. I'm normally very opposed to killing wildlife, but these damned things need to be exterminated.

They've already decimated the native mammal population--including raccoons, possums, and bobcats-- the native panther was already endangered before the introduction. Water birds will be next. Keep these damned things in THEIR native habitat.